Human Body What Actually Happens When You Black Out

If you’re like 99% of the population, you’ve experienced that horrible sensation of waking up after a night of partying hard and not remembering anything that happened. Or maybe you remember taking a few shots, but everything after that is a blur. Blacking out isn’t just one of the most dangerous things you can do, it’s one of the fastest ways to irreparably destroy your body. The black-out facts assembled here are simply meant to help you understand the frightening experience of an alcohol-induced black out.

Getting black-out drunk isn’t just embarrassing, it’s an unhealthy decision that can have serious consequences. Most people who black out will never kill an entire family or call 911 eight times trying to find their lost car, but it’s important to realize that those things are a possibility.

The Emotions Come On Strong

Here's a quick science lesson: When you drink alcohol (a depressant), a tiny portion of it seeps into your brain from your bloodstream and covers your cerebral cortex (which is responsible for processing sensory information and thoughts), disrupting the normal flow of neurotransmitters.

The more you drink, the more your emotions begin to come out, so if you're sad, you get SUPER SAD; and if you're angry, you turn into a homicidal maniac.

Your Blood Alcohol Levels Shoots Through the Roof

Photo: Scottish Government/flickr/CC-BY-NC 2.0 Obviously you have to have a pretty high blood alcohol level to get black-out drunk, but that level spikes to somewhere above 0.15, which is twice the legal limit for driving.

The Recorder in Your Brain Shuts Down

Photo: YouTubeTry as hard as you want, but you'll never remember anything that happened when you were black-out drunk. Your best bet is to hire someone to follow you around with a polaroid so you at least have an artist's depiction of what it's like when you lose control.